When you’re born with naturally coily, curly or wavy hair like me, then you know the struggles of styling it. It really is one of the hardest things to master when you start learning how to take care of textured hair, am I right? Especially if you’re just starting out, it can get complicated and overwhelmingly messy.

And so it was such a thrill when I was finally able to book a haircut with Cutz and Curlz by Jazz’s hair salon! They offer quality haircuts and styling sessions for beginners taking care of curly hair, as well as long time CGM (Curly Girl Method) practitioners alike.

With Christmas right around the corner, Parlon is here to level up your gift giving skills because now, you can easily give your beauty besties and loved ones the gift of self-care with a Parlon Gifting!

That was why I was so excited to try these Kracie products. This is my first time to try Japanese hair care! For a bit of context, I have wavy hair and have been doing the Curly Girl Method on and off for a year as I now have the freedom (thanks, mom!) to explore my newfound interest in dyeing my hair to match all those tumblr girl pictures I had saved in my phone from circa 2010.

“Oh, we have one gentleman here,” said Dr. Rica Cruz while looking at me, in the middle of her talk about women sexual empowerment. Taken by surprise, I responded, “Yes! Power to all the women!”

Project Vanity celebrated its 14th Anniversary last August 27 at the Rockwell Club in Makati, and it was an afternoon filled with beauty, stories and most importantly, conversations. Now, in true beauty roundup fashion, I’d like to go through them one by one.

When menstrual cups started showing up more and more in the Philippines, I rejoiced. I liked the idea of a more eco-friendly alternative to the pads I’ve used since puberty. Unfortunately, I didn't have the best experience in finding the right fit and ended up a little traumatized. So no judgment here if you really wanted to give The Cup a try, but it just wasn't for you. The next best thing is an alternative to the alternative: fully biodegradable pads!

Having scars may deal a blow to our self-confidence, but think of it as our skin getting stronger after every challenge. After all, the formation of scars is a natural part of our skin’s healing process! They can result from accidents, injury, burns, surgery, acne and illness.

Depending on the severity, age, and location of the scar, there are several options to fade them away. If the wound is not too serious and it’s still fresh, the best way to keep it from scarring as much as it would when left alone is to be proactive while the wound is newly healed.

Beauty is subjective, but good health is not. It’s important to ask ourselves how we’re being more proactive with our health especially during pandemic times. In my case I’ve been more conscious of eating right, going to the gym, and taking vitamins regularly. I have to confess that I always forget the last one! This is why I particularly love vitamins that can also count as a fun, light snack.

I used to think of acne as a punishment for me not being careful enough with my skin, not being more mindful of what I expose it to. But overtime I realized it’s just a natural function of skin to let me know what’s not working out in my routine. Often it’s also because of my hormones or stress, which I can’t do too much about. I’ve accepted it as a part of myself - not a flaw, but a built-in feature that I don’t have to hate.

I lost my job during the pandemic. And let me tell you, taking care of my skin and putting on makeup were the last things I wanted to do.

Skincare and makeup is always a fun time for me. I’m always happy when I “make myself pretty” even for no reason and despite the amount of time it takes to finish. I feel glad whenever I get to use the makeup products I worked hard to earn the money for. It’s double the serotonin boost for me when I could get ready while a new episode of my favorite show or the latest upload of a YouTuber I follow is playing in the background. I call it “my happy alone time”.

I started practicing yoga in 2012 – from the humble beginning of joining a yoga event up to enrolling in a studio for cross-training in pole and getting my first yoga teacher certification in 2014. I was in the middle of a yoga teacher training course when the lockdown happened. From the face-to-face sessions with manual adjusting that we were used to for many years, we had to continue through video conference and focus on verbal cues.

How are you stepping up your self-care game? Some may have taken to adapting their going-out beauty habits for at-home ones, while others have opted to sport makeup again to keep the proverbial engine running. But of course there’s the physical health aspect of self-care as well where our wellness journey tends to manifest itself through our physical appearance. Don’t sleep on getting proper rest, eating well, and taking the best supplements for your needs!

If being in the midst of a global pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that trying to take on healthy habits should be a conscious year-round practice rather than a half-hearted New Year’s resolution. It also means learning to be more in-tune with our bodies’ needs and selecting the right tools to help our wellness journey along. Bonus beauty benefit: A healthy system can translate to a glow that shows on the outside!

Ever since the start of the community quarantine, online marketplaces like Shopee have helped give us convenient access to certain things from the outside world. Learning a new hobby? You're likely to find competitively-priced supplies. Forgot to pick something up from the last supply run? Perhaps one of your favorite sellers has it. Want to try something new? There’s tons of listings to discover.

One of the most challenging things about this pandemic is being able to avail of regular healthcare services that require one’s physical presence at a clinic. When my mom was experiencing a toothache earlier this year, I was surprised to learn that her dentist could not even do fillings. It was straight to tooth extractions for emergency cases. Cleanings and regular check-ups were out of the question.

Despite the name, COMMONLABS. is a Kbeauty brand that has a decidedly uncommon approach to skincare. When you visit their website, they describe their products as skin kinetics trainers that “stimulate healthy and balanced movement of the skin cells”. The approach is that of working from the core to ensure that skin is healthy on a fundamental level. And they focus on formulations that can battle pollutants and stress.

Who here misses going to the salon and coming out with Salontastic hair? Nowadays, we’re not able to go to the salon to give our hair some TLC. If we neglect taking care of our hair, it might lead to hair damage. We talked to celebrity stylist Renz Pangilinan, who has worked on the hair of Gabbi Garcia, Ivana Alawi and Kylie Versoza, about hair damage and how to prevent it.

Renz says that the main causes of hair damage are sun exposure, hair styling and hair coloring. With his clients not able to go to the salon, he noticed that their hair showed signs of damage. “There’s a big difference since they are not able to have their regular salon treatment. It lacks shine and luster. It’s also more damaged and dry.”

The ongoing pandemic has made alcohol and sanitizers essential to our lives. It’s something that we always need to have on hand to help protect us as we go about our day. Making sure we have our stash full is now more convenient as beauty brands release their own versions. We can shop for our beauty products and sanitizing essentials in one stop!

The weather’s getting hotter these days, and staying fresh is becoming a bigger priority. But with our busy schedules, we tend to rush through the bathing ritual without giving it much thought. After all, smelling malinis is a must.

But bathing doesn't have to be a joyless practice we take for granted. It can be both therapeutic and fun. So it’s exciting to experience a new iteration of a family favorite, the Safeguard Detox Foaming Body Wash (P449 for 500ml pump bottle, P309 for 400ml refill pack), just in time for the season. And BTW, it's the first ever foaming body wash in the Philippines!

It goes without saying that 2020 was a challenging period of adjustment for everyone. For the first half of last year, I was so completely resigned to staying in that I pretty much dropped most of my beauty habits, save for my nightly skincare routine. But as the months went by, I slowly began to miss my old self-care rituals. So much so that I’ve started them back up even whilst I remain stuck indoors.

While my personal preference is to avoid alcohol in my skincare products, it’s an important item for helping to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Unfortunately, people have been panic-buying and hoarding bottles at the grocery, leaving others to find other means to buy alcohol. You’ve probably seen people selling commercial alcohol online at unreasonable prices, but did you also notice those posts with gallons of 99% alcohol? Don’t buy that until you’ve read this.